Politics and Chocolate Ice Cream
by Marauder-In-Disguise
Summary: After 'The Voyager Conspiracy', a certain crewmember is left wondering what the heck Seven was going on about...
1. Neelix

**A/N – So this has been floating around in my brain for a while, probably since the first time that I actually watched 'The Voyager Conspiracy'. ****I thought that it was a bit of a stupid episode but it did get me thinking about this…**

**Disclaimer – OK, I give up! I don't own Voyager and I never will. No amount of wishing is going to change that…*sigh***

Naomi ran down the corridor away from the shouting Seven of Nine. She didn't cry, being far beyond the stage of crying when she was scared, but she wanted to find Neelix and ask him what Seven meant when she asked who Naomi was working for. As far as the youngster knew, everyone on the ship worked for Starfleet and Captain Janeway was in charge. Her mom was on duty but Neelix would know. He knew everything.

As she ran into the messhall, she crashed headlong into Commander Tuvok. The Vulcan bent over and picked her up with one hand, setting her on her feet.

"Miss Wildman," he said severely, "What is your most important rule for safety on this ship?"

"Don't run anywhere," she murmured, recalling the hundreds of times before that the Vulcan had chastised her for doing just that, "I'm sorry, Commander."

"I just want you to be safe, Miss Wildman," his expression softened a fraction, his hand lingering on her shoulder for just a second, "Do not make me tell you again."

Rolling her eyes, Naomi waited until Tuvok was out of sight then called "Neelix? Where are you?"

"Here, Naomi," he answered, suddenly appearing from behind the counter, "What's the matter? I thought you were meant to be with Seven this afternoon."

"I need to ask you something, Neelix," she whispered, "Do you have any time?"

Noting the expression on the little girl's face, Neelix nodded, "Sure I do. Do you want some ice cream? We won't tell your mom."

Naomi's face only brightened for a second before her young brow wrinkled once again. Neelix noticed fondly that her Ktarian blood always made her look particularly serious when she was thinking about something. He spent some of his precious replicator rations on two bowls of chocolate ice cream and sat down opposite her at their usual table. Naomi had been allowed extra replicator rations as the only growing member of Voyager's crew but Neelix liked to spend his own on treats for her. Sam had enough trouble keeping up with her appetite without illicit ice cream sessions in the mess hall to worry about as well.

Naomi ate her ice cream enthusiastically enough, with Neelix waiting for her to tell him what was wrong in her own time. When she was finished she wiped her mouth on her sleeve, an irritating habit that she seemed to have picked up from watching B'Elanna and a couple of the younger men from engineering.

"Neelix?"

"Yes, Naomi?"

"I saw Seven just now and she asked me who I was working for."

It was Neelix's turn to furrow his brow. He knew that Seven had been acting strangely in the last couple of days but she always made an effort with Naomi.

"She asked you who you were working for?"

"The captain or Chakotay," Naomi clarified, "What did she mean?"

Neelix swallowed, trying to look deep in thought to buy himself some more time. He didn't have any idea why Seven would drag up the whole Maquis-Starfleet affair now but it didn't matter. Sam had specifically made it clear that Naomi wasn't to know about the unique make up of Voyager's crew until she was older. He tried to come up with something quickly to explain Seven's comments, avoiding Naomi's eyes. She knew he was stalling and the longer he tried to come up with something, the more she knew he was about to lie to her.

He opened his mouth, only a half formed explanation in his head, when his comm badge chirped.

"Janeway to Neelix."

"Neelix here, Captain."

"I need you on the bridge, Neelix. As soon as possible."

"Aye Captain," he spluttered, wondering vaguely whether the captain heard the relief in his voice.

"Neelix?" Naomi asked, half standing as he himself leapt up and pulled his apron off.

"Later, Naomi. I'll drop by and see you before bed time."

To her credit, she tried to hide her disappointment.

"OK."

When he looked back before he turned the corner, the sight of the small forlorn figure crouched over the table almost made him turn back until he realised that she was poking madly at a PADD he hadn't noticed her having before. She would already be up to something. The only saving grace was that everyone on the ship knew that Naomi wasn't to know the whole Voyager story. Chakotay had made it clear that anyone not complying with Sam's wishes would answer to him and Neelix would have to rely on that as he left the mess hall.

As soon as Neelix was gone, Naomi jumped up and settled herself opposite Charlie Dempsey, one of the young men from engineering.

"Hello, little one," he drawled in his thick Irish accent, "What do you want?"

Naomi was about to ask him the same question she had asked Neelix, but suddenly the memory of her godfather's face prompted her to keep her questions for her mother and Neelix alone. Something wasn't right and she would find out what it was.

She smiled brightly at Charlie, "Do you want to play Kadis Kot?"


	2. Samantha

Samantha Wildman ran her hand through her short blonde hair, staring without really seeing the data on the screen in front of her. It had been a long and difficult shift and all she could think about was getting back to quarters and seeing Naomi before her daughter went to bed. She shook her head and half heartedly pressed a few buttons on her station. She was only in the science lab to cover for a sick colleague and had found herself longing for the xenobiology lab and her own projects all day. Lieutenant Lloyd, the superior officer in the science lab, noticed and murmured without looking up from her own screen, "You head off Sam. I'll come by and see you tomorrow."

"Are you sure, Glenn? I can finish off here first-"

"Get out of here, Wildman," he grinned, his graying hair falling into his eyes as he glanced over at here, "Give that lovely little girl a kiss from Uncle Glenn."

"Thank you, sir."

Samantha grabbed a few PADDs and was out of the door before he could change his mind. To her surprise, Neelix was hovering outside the lab.

"What's wrong, Neelix? What's Naomi done now?"

"It's not what she's done. Did you hear about Seven?"

"Yes. Strange, wasn't it?"

The Doctor had come into the lab a few hours earlier and told them everything, under the guise of helping Glenn with some experiment that they were working on. He'd said that Seven had overloaded herself with information and developed some paranoid theories on _Voyager's_ presence in the Delta Quadrant. Apparently the captain had almost thrown Chakotay into the brig, such was the compelling evidence that Seven had to offer.

"It was strange," Neelix agreed, hurrying to match Samantha's pace as she strode down the corridor towards the turbo lift, "But that's not what I want to talk to you about."

"What is it then?"

"Before they worked out what was wrong with Seven, she talked to Naomi."

"And?"

"She knows something about the Maquis. Seven asked her if she was working for the captain or Chakotay. She was asking all sorts of questions."

"Did you tell her?" Samantha asked, her voice tense.

"No. But she won't let this drop. She's an inquisitive child."

"I know."

They were both silent for a moment, Neelix watching Samantha anxiously.

"Do you think the time's come to tell her?" he offered tentatively.

"Maybe," Samantha nodded slowly, "I'll talk to her and see how much she knows. We might just need some damage control."

The lift stopped at her deck and she put a gentle hand on Neelix's shoulder as she stepped out, "I'll let you know later. Wait up and I'll tell you what she knows."

"Of course," he smiled, "She'll be fine, Samantha. She's mature for her age."

"We'll see. Thanks for warning me Neelix."

Naomi was sprawled on the couch in their quarters, reading from a PADD. Her Flotter doll was tucked under her arm.

"Hey," Samantha chastised gently, "It's almost 20 00. Why aren't you ready for bed? You know the rules."

"Sorry, Mom," Naomi smiled widely, "I left Flotter in sickbay so the Doctor brought him back. He just left."

"Well, that's alright just this once," Samantha swept her daughter up into a hug, "Why were you in sickbay today? You don't have lessons with the Doctor on Mondays."

"I just went to say hi. Neelix and Seven were busy and I was bored. The Doctor said I can go see him whenever I want."

"That's kind of him. It's time for bed though. Have you had dinner?"

"Yep. Grilled cheese sandwich."

"What did I tell you about eating-"

"I had an apple and some orange juice as well," Naomi laughed, anticipating what her mother was about to say.

"Good girl. Now, bedtime!"

Samantha chased her daughter into the bedroom and began to tidy up the mess of PADDs scattered around the floor whilst Naomi changed. She supposed she should be pleased that most of Naomi's mess was made up of books and reports but sometimes the little girl got so distracted by whatever she was working on at the time that some days she was practically wading through reading materials.

"What story would you like tonight?"

From her cocoon of bedclothes, a small voice answered, "I don't want a story. I want you to tell me something."

Samantha settled herself down next to Naomi and swept up the wriggling bundle so that she could see her daughter's face peeking out.

"Is this about what you asked Neelix earlier? About what Seven said to you?"

"Yes. What did she mean?"

"Seven was sick, Naomi. She didn't really know what she was saying."

"So there were no teams?"

"No."

"Oh."

For a minute, Samantha thought that she had got away with no more questions but the deep intake of breath proved her wrong.

"What's a Maquis?"

"Where did you hear that word?"

"Seven said that Ktarians were sympathetic to the Maquis. What's a Maquis?"

Knowing that she was beaten, Samantha looked down into her daughter's inquisitive eyes. Naomi was like a dog with a bone when she had a question and she wouldn't stop asking until she got an answer. It was better that her mother try to explain it to her. She had an idea.

"Would you like me to tell it to you like a story? It's a bit boring otherwise."

"OK."

"Once upon a time, there were a lot of planets and they all formed a Federation which meant that they were all nice to each other and didn't have wars or fights. One day, a planet of nasty people called the Cardassians who lived near the Federation decided to attack some tiny worlds on the border between their space. The people in the Federation didn't want a fight with the Cardassians so they thought it would be better to sacrifice the tiny worlds and a bigger planet called Bajor to the Cardassians instead of starting a bigger war. But there was a group of people who thought that the Federation should be protecting Bajor and the tiny worlds. They were annoyed that the Federation was sacrificing them so they started fighting the Cardassians and working with the Bajorans. The Federation got very annoyed at the people and they said they were terrorists. Those terrorists were called the Maquis."

Naomi nodded slowly, taking in everything her mother had told her.

"Were the Maquis just Ktarians?"

"No. There were people from all over the Federation; Humans, Vulcans, Bolians, Trill, a few Klingons, Bajorans of course, and lots of other people."

"If the Maquis are back in the Alpha Quadrant, why did Seven ask me about them? I don't know about the Maquis."

"I know sweetheart. Remember that Seven was sick today?"

"Yes but why did she ask me about them?"

The frustration was evident in her daughter's voice.

"Well, you know that I told you that _Voyager _ended up out here because we got pulled here by the Caretaker?"

"Yes. He wanted us to see if we could help him."

"Well, there's a bit of the story that I left out. _Voyager_ got pulled from a place called the Badlands. We wouldn't have been there if we hadn't been chasing a Maquis ship. Commander Tuvok was on board the Maquis ship spying for the Federation. It got pulled to the Delta Quadrant too."

"So there are more humans and things in the Delta Quadrant?"

"Not exactly," Samantha had to tear her eyes away from Naomi's innocent face. She didn't see the light dawning in Naomi's eyes.

"Are there Maquis on _Voyager_?"

"Yes."

Everything seemed to click into place at the same time in Naomi's head. She sat bolt upright and, to Samantha's surprise, a smile spread over her face.

"Is that what Seven meant? Is Commander Chakotay a Maquis?"

"Not anymore, sweetheart. But he was, yes."

"Who else?"

"Lieutenant Torres, Michael Ayala, Charlie Dempsey-"

"Is that why some people have different things on their collars?"

Impressed at her daughter's eagle eye, Samantha nodded, "I didn't think you'd noticed."

"Yes I did but I didn't ask in case it just meant that they were special ranks or something. Mom?"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"If they're terrorists, why did Captain Janeway let them have jobs on _Voyager?_ Shouldn't she have put them in the brig or something? Isn't a terrorist a bad thing?"

"Normally it is Naomi but the Maquis are a bit different. A lot of people thought that they were right to fight the Cardassians. Your daddy did. Captain Janeway realised that if we were going to take a long time to get home we couldn't keep them in the brig. She gave them jobs."

"What happened to the people who had their jobs before them?"

"They died when we came to the Delta Quadrant. Those of us who lived were lucky to survive you know."

Samantha stood up and tucked the blankets round her daughter, making sure that Flotter was within grabbing distance. The triumphant smile had gone from Naomi's face.

"I'll tell you more in the morning if you want, Naomi, but you have to sleep now."

"So, lots of people on this ship are criminals?"

"_Were_ criminals, Naomi."

"Why did Seven ask me whose side I was on?"

"I told you already, Seven was sick today. You have to ignore what she said. Now, good night. Computer, lights off."

From the darkness, Naomi's voice called falteringly.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"You aren't Maquis are you?"


	3. Tuvok

Samantha woke the next morning to find that a PADD had been left on the pillow next to her head. She wasn't due to start her shift until ten and had taken the opportunity to have a lie in. Naomi often got up before her but she never left their quarters before her mother. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes and sitting up slowly, she glanced over the PADD. It had been written at 07 00. Impressed that Naomi had managed to keep the noise from her usually boisterous morning routine quiet enough to not wake her, she read the message.

Dear Mommy

I didn't want to wake you up so I've gone to have breakfast with Neelix and then I might go and see Seven and then I have some holodeck time that Glenn said I could have. Don't worry, I'll eat proper food, I promise. See you later.

Love from

Naomi

"Oh, Naomi," Samantha laughed, rolling reluctantly out of bed and padding out to the replicator. It was her daughter's morning ritual to tell her mother everything she was doing that day and a recent addition to promise to eat good food. It was just like her to leave a note with the details. As she sat down with a pot of coffee and some blueberry pancakes, she quickly ran over the previous day's events. Naomi had seemed to take the revelation about the Maquis quite well but then the little girl was so secretive sometimes that Samantha suspected the issue would rear its head again in another week or so. If it did happen again, she would be more prepared. It was with that in mind that she had downloaded some information on the Maquis the previous night before she went to sleep. Samantha was not afraid to admit that she didn't have a lot of knowledge in the area – her husband had always been more interested in politics – but she wanted to be able to answer Naomi's questions. She buried herself in a PADD as she ate and planned to go and talk to Glenn later that day. He knew everything about the delicate situation in the Alpha Quadrant. Well, she corrected herself, he knew everything six years ago. Things had changed – there was even a rumour that the Maquis had been wiped out, although the former Maquis on the ship were oddly tightlipped with the truth. Their silence was all the conformation a lot of the Starfleet crew needed.

_**-POLITICS AND CHOCOLATE ICECREAM-**_

Naomi glanced furtively around her before she scurried into cargo bay two. It was the only place she could think of that she wouldn't be disturbed. Seven only went there to regenerate, which she never did in the middle of the day, and only a real emergency would bring any of the engineering crew scuttling down for spare parts. She pulled a crate over to the console and began pressing buttons. _Voyager_'s database was generally not off limits to her and she was familiar with the layout.

From her bag she pulled what had been her favourite birthday gift last year; a real paper notebook and pen. Tom Paris had given it to her and told her to keep it for special things. She'd learnt to write with pens and paper but lately had used PADDs for most things. Nothing had appealed to her enough to write in the notebook but something had made her grab it that morning as she snuck out. She carefully put the lid of the pen on the wrong end and began to jab at the computer again.

"Computer, define terrorist."

"Somebody using violence for political purposes."

Dutifully, Naomi copied out the definition on the first page. She only had a vague idea of what 'political' meant but she moved on quickly, afraid that she would be caught the longer she stayed in the cargo bay.

"Computer, show types of terrorism. On screen."

She found herself caught up in the historical information on the screen. She learned that terrorism was nothing new and had been going on for hundreds of years. She was particularly fascinated by the terrorists of the early twenty first century. Skipping the hard parts and noting down new names and places, Naomi began to develop an odd feeling. Terrorists were not nice people. They hurt lots of people to get what they wanted and they were usually nice people that they hurt. She stopped writing for a minute and stared at the screen, her mind trying to make sense of the words in front of her. Commander Chakotay, Lieutenant Torres, even Charlie who played Kadis-Kot with her, were all terrorists. They hurt people to get what they wanted.

The whoosh of the door opening was sudden and Naomi fell off her crate in surprise. She lay with her eyes shut, wondering who had caught her out.

"Miss Wildman. What, may I ask, are you doing in the cargo bay?"

Naomi groaned openly. Of all people, why did it have to be Tuvok?

She opened her eyes slowly, bracing herself for the inevitable telling off. Tuvok's face was upside down but he wasn't looking at her. His eyes were focused on the screen of the console, until they flickered over to the notebook. He picked it up and began to read, at the same time reaching down and lifting Naomi to her feet with the other hand. Before she could answer his question, he asked another.

"Miss Wildman – why are you studying terrorism? It is not a suitable subject."

"Mommy told me about the Maquis last night. I want to know more about them."

Tuvok blinked slowly, "The Maquis are not twenty first century terrorists. You are studying the wrong materials."

He promptly stepped forwards and began pressing buttons on the console. Naomi stood close by his side, silent, as he pulled up various articles and reports relating to the Maquis. He read them faster than Naomi could, dismissing materials almost as quickly as he pulled them up. Eventually Naomi grew weary of watching him reading and reached out to the console.

"Please do not touch, Miss Wildman."

"What are you doing?"

"Finding something more suitable for you. I am, however, unsure that any reports on the Maquis were written for children of your age."

"I'm not a baby," she pouted.

"Indeed, you are not," he agreed, "But the Maquis is a difficult subject for anyone to understand, let alone a child."

With a barely audible sigh, Tuvok switched off the screen and sat down smartly on the crate, brushing invisible dust from his pant legs.

"Please sit down, Miss Wildman."

Grabbing another crate, Naomi sat down nervously. She had never had much to do with Tuvok, other than to be told off for running or shouting and it was odd to think that he wanted to talk to her.

"I will answer your questions. Are you certain that your mother is comfortable with you learning about this subject?"

The fraction of a second too long that she took to answer confirmed what he thought.

"She does not know that you are here?"

"No, but she told me about the Maquis last night. She didn't say I couldn't find out more. Please Tuvok?"

"Very well. What would you like to know?"

"Did the Maquis kill people?"

"In short, yes."

Her lip trembled slightly, "Even Commander Chakotay?"

"I imagine so."

"So, Commander Chakotay is...a bad man?"

"Not necessarily. It depends on what you believe."

"So were the Maquis terrorists or not?" she asked, her bottom lip trembling. She felt like everything that she knew was wrong and it frightened her.

"Miss Wildman," Tuvok sighed after a while, gazing impassively at her, "Would you care to accompany me to my quarters? You will be more comfortable and we can start again. I believe I have confused you."

"OK."

Tuvok's quarters were bigger than any Naomi had seen, with two large chairs arranged precisely around a wooden table at the centre. There was an odd but not unpleasant smell; it smelt like fruit and spices. Several large candles sat on various surfaces but nothing else. Naomi immediately felt calmer.

"If you do not like the smell of the incense, Miss Wildman, I can remove it."

"No. It smells good."

""It is an ancient Vulcan mixture," Tuvok said, just out of Naomi's eye line, "It is designed to make someone ready for meditation. I appreciate the smell also."

Suddenly he appeared, two bowls held before him. One of these he placed on the table; it seemed to be full of a sort of dried fruit. The other bowl he held out to Naomi.

"Your preferred flavour, I believe."

It was full of chocolate ice cream.

"You didn't have to give me any ice cream," she blushed, "Thank you very much."

"Think nothing of it, Miss Wildman," he said stiffly, sitting in the empty chair and looking carefully at her, "Even young Vulcans are allowed to find solace in the occasional unnecessary foodstuff." As if to illustrate, he popped one of the dried fruits in his own mouth, "Even I do, on occasion."

For perhaps the first time, Naomi considered the fact that Tuvok was a parent. Her mother had told her that he had children but she had never really made the connection between the Vulcan who was always telling her off and the father of four children back at home. She tasted the first spoonful of ice cream almost hesitantly.

"That's great ice cream, Tuvok!"

"Thank you Miss Wildman but your praise is misdirected. It is only what you have with your mother or Mister Neelix."

When she seemed to have calmed down, Tuvok spoke again.

"Now, Miss Wildman-"

"Please call me Naomi, Tuvok. You're the only one who doesn't."

"Very well. Naomi, you wished to know if the Maquis were terrorists. Well, the answer, simply put, is not as you picture them to be."

"What do you mean?"

"By studying twenty first century terrorists, you confused yourself. Those terrorists usually targeted people who were innocent and free of any involvement in political situations. Their aim was to make leaders and important people take notice of a particular problem."

"Yes," she swallowed a lump of ice too quickly and felt the familiar onset of what Tom Paris called 'brain freeze'. Trying to hide it from Tuvok, she nodded for him to continue.

"The Maquis were also trying to get the attention of leaders but they did not do it by killing innocent people. They aimed to protect people, especially the Bajorans and settlers of the small planets along the border. Anyone who died was usually a Cardassian aggressor and even then those deaths were mostly unavoidable."

"Were the Cardassians bad?"

"When the treaty between the Cardassians and the Federation was signed, the Cardassians made a promise to not attack anyone over the border. They began to do that, so in that respect then yes, they were 'bad'."

"So the Maquis were the good guys?"

"Not necessarily. It mostly depends on what you believe. Should the Cardassians have been allowed to attack Bajor and the other planets?"

"No. Not if they promised that they wouldn't."

"Should the Federation have drawn itself into a war to stop them? A war in which many millions could have died?"

"No."

"So you think that the Maquis were right to take matters into their own hands?"

"No."

Tuvok leaned back in his chair, "Therein lies the problem, Naomi. I know this is hard for you to understand but there is no real meanings to the words right and wrong. You must decide for yourself."

They sat in silence; Tuvok leant forwards and delicately picked out a handful of fruit. Naomi finished her ice cream, fighting the urge to lick the bowl. That would be going slightly too far.

"It's kind of like Robin Hood, isn't it Tuvok?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Robin Hood. Tom told me about him. He was an ancient British outlaw who hid in forests and stole money from rich people to give to poor people. Sometimes he would kill the rich people if they tried to stop him but he gave all the money to poor people. So you have to decide what side you are on, like with the Maquis?"

"Indeed, Naomi. What do you think?"

"I think that if people like Commander Chakotay could be Maquis, then maybe they aren't such a bad thing. Is that stupid?"

"No. You are attempting to rationalize the situation with relevant information. It is an admirable attempt at understanding what is really too advanced a subject for you."

From anyone else, Naomi would have considered that an insult but from Tuvok it was different and as much of a compliment as she could ever hope to get.

"Thank you Tuvok. I think I understand better now," she chirped, jumping up from her seat, "Do you think that the Maquis were right?"

"I spent a long time on a Maquis ship," he said carefully, "Although I will never agree with them, I do understand their motives. Some of the Cardassian acts were not to be ignored."

"Do you think that B'Elanna will talk to me if I ask her about it?"

"I believe she will," he stood quickly as Naomi turned to the door, "Do not go to engineering. You must wait until she has finished her shift."

"I know. Thanks for the ice cream, Tuvok."

"You are most welcome, Miss Wildman."

As the doors closed behind her, she set off at a run for the cargo bay to collect her notebook and PADDs. Just around the corner from Tuvok's quarters she ran into Commander Chakotay.

"Look out Naomi," he smiled, his hands resting gently on her shoulders, "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

She froze, staring up at his smiling face. No one had said that he was a bad man; in fact, Tuvok seemed to be saying that he wasn't, but Naomi didn't think she was quite ready to talk to the commander yet. He had hurt people, even if he didn't want to, and just for a minute she was scared. What if he thought that she had done something wrong too? He might not mean it then either. His face darkened with concern as she began to struggle valiantly in his hands, her breath coming out in short, sharp pants.

"Naomi, are you alright?"

"Please let me go," she whispered.

Immediately he complied, "What's wrong Naomi? It's me."

"I have to go see Neelix," she squeaked, "Sorry."

And she bolted. Chakotay watched her go, confused and unsure of what to do. Naomi always greeted him with a smile and something to tell him about what she had been doing. She'd never looked at him like that before. She'd looked terrified, like he was about to hurt her.

It had been a long time since he had been looked at like that.


	4. B'Elanna

"It was the strangest thing, B'Elanna," Chakotay said, his finger tracing the edge of his coffee cup, "If I didn't know better, I'd say that she was scared of me."

"Don't be stupid Chakotay," she smirked, "Why would Naomi be scared of you? She only has to bat her eyes to get whatever she wants from you."

"It's not funny, B'Elanna. I'm worried about her."

"Well go see her then, when she's in her quarters with Samantha. I'm sure you've just got things wrong."

"Yes. I'd better be going. Night shift with Tuvok."

"Have fun."

The second he was gone, Naomi ducked out from behind the counter and scurried over to B'Elanna's table, notebook in hand. She sat herself down, an innocent smile on her face. B'Elanna blinked.

"Hey Naomi. What's up?"

"Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah," she eyed her notebook, "Are you working on something?"

"Kind of."

"Do you want to know something about engineering?"

"Nope. I want to know about the Maquis."

B'Elanna narrowed her eyes, "Are you allowed to know about that?"

"Yes. My mom told me about them a bit."

"So, what do you want to know?" she asked carefully, watching in amusement as Naomi pulled the lid from her pen and settled down, finally setting her bright eyes expectantly on B'Elanna's face.

"Why did you join the Maquis?"

"Do you know why the Maquis even existed?"

"Yes. Why did you join?"

"Because the Maquis were right, Naomi and the Federation was wrong."

B'Elanna was surprised at the venom in her voice and, judging from the look on her face, Naomi was too. It had been a year since they received the news of the Maquis slaughter and B'Elanna thought that the wound had started to heal. It had been a while since she'd poked it though; maybe it wasn't as healthy as she thought.

"I don't have to talk to you if you don't want."

"No, it's OK. It's just been a while since I spoke to anyone about it."

"When did you join?"

"Commander Chakotay found me on a Bolian freighter. We were attacked. I was trapped. He saved my life."

"What were you doing on a Bolian freighter? Why were you attacked?"

"You don't need to know, Naomi," she said darkly.

"But-"

"No. The last thing I want to do is traumatize you."

Neelix trotted over with a coffee pot. Naomi slammed her notebook shut as she heard Neelix's cheerful voice, "More coffee, B'Elanna?"

"Yes, please Neelix."

"Hi Neelix," Naomi smiled, her arms pressed tightly over her notebook.

"What are you two talking about?"

B'Elanna opened her mouth, only the pleading expression on Naomi's face catching her eye. She swallowed her answer quickly.

"Not much, Neelix."

"Oh," the Talaxian nodded, "I'll leave you to it then."

B'Elanna crossed her arms, eyebrows raised as Naomi at least had the good grace to look sheepish.

"They don't know, do they Naomi?"

"Not exactly. Mom didn't say I couldn't find out more. Please don't tell Neelix."

"I won't," B'Elanna breathed through her nose as a thought suddenly occurred to her, "Naomi, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Commander Chakotay said that you ran away from him earlier. Does this new interest in the Maquis have anything to do with it?"

"No."

"Naomi?"

"Tuvok told me that Commander Chakotay had hurt some people when he was in the Maquis," she whispered, "I guess I just got scared."

"Of him? Naomi, I don't want to scare you but we all had to defend ourselves. And that's all we were ever doing, defending ourselves. Don't think that anyone ever enjoyed doing it."

"Yeah."

"Why are you talking to me anyway? I defended myself as much as Chakotay ever did."

"I don't know," Naomi shrugged, "I needed to talk to someone and Tuvok said you might talk to me."

"But you're scared of Commander Chakotay?"

"I guess so."

Naomi stood to leave, her notebook firmly under her arm as she glanced nervously at Neelix, "Did you like being in the Maquis, B'Elanna?"

"I had a lot of friends in the Maquis," she nodded contemplatively, "But I was angry all the time. We all were. I got tired of being angry but I couldn't stop."

Thanks B'Elanna."

"Naomi, do me a favour."

"OK."

"Go and see Commander Chakotay. He's really worried that he's upset you."

Naomi skipped out of the doors, Neelix calling after her, "You'll be late for bed if you don't go now!"

B'Elanna drained her coffee cup and decided to head to Tom's quarters to see what he was doing that night. As she hurried to catch the turbolift, she found herself sorting the people that she passed into Starfleet or Maquis. When she was first on board _Voyager_, all those years ago, she used to find herself doing that obsessively all day. It wasn't as though she really got anything from it but it was reassuring to know that there were still Maquis people nearby if she needed them. It was irrelevant now, as Seven would say. Naomi had stirred up some odd feelings though. It had been so long since she had spoken to anyone – the last time, she, Chakotay and Michael Ayala had switched on _Sandrine's _for the night and reminisced, soon after Chakotay got the news from Sveta. Maybe they should do more to remember. She shook her head as he pressed the chime for Tom's door. Not maybe. They _should_ do more to remember. The guilt had already begun to gnaw at her stomach. She couldn't afford to let it get any worse.


	5. Captain and Commander

Naomi crept into the turbolift, her notebook clutched to her chest. It wasn't often that she dared to venture to the bridge but she needed to talk to the captain and it wouldn't hurt to find out if she was free. The lift headed straight to the bridge with no stops on other decks, for which she was grateful; it was all too easy to be waylaid when she was on a mission. It had only recently occurred to her that the reason people were always stopping her and wanting to talk to her was because she was the only child on the ship; she always made an effort to talk to people because her mother had told her it was polite but the grown ups on the ship never seemed to understand that she was very busy.

As the turbolift doors opened, Chakotay turned his head slightly and saw Naomi. She gazed at him, remembering what B'Elanna had said but not quite plucking up the courage to say anything. For his part, Chakotay made no move to engage her in conversation. He smiled sadly and Naomi wished that she could think of something to say. Instead she turned to Tuvok and asked if she could go and see the captain in the ready room. The Vulcan nodded, eying the little girl as she skirted warily round Chakotay, shooting him a timid half smile and disappearing through the door as soon as the captain called her in. Chakotay threw his head back against the headrest of his chair and stared moodily at his hands. Tuvok cleared his throat.

"Commander, are you well?"

"Yes, thank you, Tuvok."

"It is just that when Miss Wildman came onto the bridge I got the distinct impression that something was wrong."

Chakotay glanced around him at the other bridge crew busy not listening and made his way to Tuvok's station, leaning heavily on it.

"She won't talk to me Tuvok and I don't know why. I saw her in the corridor yesterday and it's almost as though she was scared of me. I don't know what I've done."

Instead of raising his eyebrows and telling him patiently that children often acted in strange ways and it wouldn't be long before Naomi was back to normal, as Chakotay expected Tuvok to do, the Vulcan nodded sharply.

"I believe I know why."

"Why?"

"Miss Wildman has recently discovered the existence of Maquis on the ship and has been pressing various crew members for information. When she asked me, I told her that you were an ex Maquis. Perhaps she is connecting you with the more unsavoury acts that the Maquis committed."

"Who would tell her about that?"

"I did," Tuvok said simply, not looking up from his panel as he pressed various buttons.

"You told a child of her age that-" Chakotay said hotly, his eyes darkening.

"Miss Wildman is mature for her age," Tuvok countered, "And she would have found out what happened regardless of whether or not I told her. When I found her, she was reading reports from the database. It is better that I told her in a way that she could understand."

Chakotay breathed once and slumped against the station, gazing over his shoulder at the ready room door.

"I don't want the only child on this ship to be scared of me, Tuvok. How can I make her understand?"

"As you would do with all children. Go and talk to her in a place that she feels safe. Perhaps even now would be a good idea, when she is with the captain."

_**-POLITICS AND CHOCOLATE ICECREAM-**_

"What can I do for you, Naomi?" Kathryn smiled, putting aside the PADD that she was reading and gesturing for the youngster to take the spare chair. Naomi clambered up, her notebook held tightly under her arm. She fixed the captain with the stare that Kathryn had come to associate with a plan in action.

"Captain, I'd like to ask you some questions about the Maquis."

The smile froze on Kathryn's face.

"How do you know about the Maquis, Naomi? Your mother doesn't want you to know about them."

"She told me about them," Naomi explained patiently, "After Seven accidentally told me about them when she was sick the other day."

"I see," Kathryn nodded slowly, not happy with the situation but accepting it for the time being, "And what would you like to know about the Maquis exactly?"

"Do you think that they were right?"

"Once, a long time ago, I thought they were wrong," the captain rolled her head gently in a circle, as though trying to literally weigh up the judgement in her head, "But now that I have become friends with a great number of them, I can understand why they were fighting. I do not agree with their actions but I understand their cause."

"That's what Tuvok said too," Naomi didn't look up as she carefully noted down the captain's words, "That he understands but he doesn't agree."

"How many people have you spoken to about this, Naomi?" Kathryn asked, seeing for the first time the pages of writing in her notebook.

"Mommy, Tuvok, B'Elanna and now, you."

"You've done a lot of research then."

"Yep. In history class, Commander Chakotay says that you can't make a judgement if you don't have enough evidence."

"Why haven't you spoken to Commander Chakotay? I thought that the two of you were friends."

Naomi ducked her head and noticeably didn't answer the question.

"Naomi? What's wrong?"

"Tuvok told me some of the things Commander Chakotay did, when he was a Maquis," the little girl whispered, her lip trembling.

"_Three cheers for Vulcan tact_," Kathryn thought, reaching out and taking Naomi's hand across the table, "You've spoken to B'Elanna though. Why are you scared of Commander Chakotay and not her?"

"B'Elanna's always been a little bit scary," Naomi murmured, "Especially when she's in a bad mood. Commander Chakotay has always been –"

Noticing that she was struggling to find the words, Kathryn stepped in to help her, "Commander Chakotay has always been your friend and now you don't know what to think."

Silently, Naomi nodded.

"Well, Naomi, I don't know what I can say. Commander Chakotay isn't that person anymore. He is your friend. He's everyone's friend and he would never do anything to hurt you."

"He might have once," Naomi's frustration and fear got the better of her and she began to cry, "I don't know what to think anymore."

At that precise moment, as the captain was already walking round the desk to comfort her, the door opened and Commander Chakotay stepped in. Naomi gasped and moved closer to the captain; Chakotay didn't try to move but Kathryn could see from the look on his face that he knew why Naomi was crying. Deciding to take the lead, Kathryn firmly moved Naomi to stand next to her and indicated that Chakotay should sit in the vacated spare seat. Before anyone else could say anything, she put an arm round Naomi's trembling body and said to Chakotay, "Please tell Naomi why you joined the Maquis."

He nodded slowly and swallowed deeply, just once. How to explain it to one so young?

"I was in Starfleet before I joined the Maquis, Naomi. Did you know that?"

She shook her head.

"Well, I was. But then I saw that the Cardassians were attacking my home, a little moon in the DMZ, and no one in the Federation was trying to stop them, apart from the Maquis. I had to join the Maquis, Naomi, because my family was in trouble. The Cardassians killed most of my people and they killed my parents. The only real family I have left is a sister who was off world when the Cardassians attacked."

Seeing that Naomi had stopped crying and was looking more intrigued than scared, he continued, remembering to keep his tone even and his face friendly.

"I joined the Maquis, Naomi, because I wanted to protect my family and I stayed because I wanted to stop other people feeling the loss that I did when my people died. Do you understand now?"

With a gentle push from the captain, who could see that Chakotay really needed his young pupil and friend to see that he wasn't a threat to her, Naomi walked slowly round the desk and stood in front of him, with her head tilted slightly to one side.

"So, the only reason you ever hurt anyone was because you wanted to protect your family and your tribe and your planet?"

"Yes."

"And now that you're here, you don't need to hurt anyone because your family isn't here."

"That's right," he smiled sadly, reaching out and taking one of her small hands. She didn't flinch away, "And do you know something else? Everyone on this ship is my family now, and I want to protect them, not hurt them."

"Even me?"

"Especially you."

Naomi threw herself at him, her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. He returned the gesture with relief and smiled at Kathryn over Naomi's head, mouthing his thanks.

When Naomi pulled away, she smiled sheepishly at him, "I'm sorry I was so silly."

"Don't be sorry at all, Naomi. I've already forgotten it. I'm just glad we're friends again."

"Me too. Can we have a lesson soon? Tom was telling me about dinosaurs but I think he was making up the names. Was there really such a thing as a Doyouthinkhesaurus?"


End file.
